my do over moment

Disclaimer: I was compensated for this post.

Last summer I got really into running. I started the Couch to 5k program for the first time, bought some awesome new running shoes that I had been coveting for a while and even signed up for my first 5k. I was serious. I was a runner and I thought nothing could stop me! Wrong.

The novelty of running slowly wore off and scheduling conflicts got me off track. See, Cory plays baseball in the summer so some Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday nights I wouldn't be able to get my run in. Also, we made a couple trips to La Crosse and didn't continue my running while we were down there either. By August I wasn't running at all, but I still had signed up for that 5k and was due to run it at the end of September and the thought of it was constantly lingering in my mind.

One of my good friends had just started to run, apparently I inspired her even though I completely fell off the running bandwagon and was wondering if I still wanted to run that 5k and if she could join me. Boy was I in trouble. The 5k was just weeks away, but I couldn't say no, right? So I agreed to run with her and honestly even up until the night before the run I wasn't sure if we were actually really going to do it.

But we did it! I ran the 5k in 35:12 and ran the entire thing without stopping... which isn't actually too bad... especially considering I stopped training completely a month before the race. It's one of the achievements that I'm most proud of, but honestly I wish I could do it over.

Why you ask? Because my body wasn't ready for the race, I had to push myself so hard. I've never run that hard in my life and ended up pulling something in my knee that left me in pain for weeks afterwards. After the race all I wanted to do was run and train for my next 5k, but I couldn't because I had already put my body through too much as it was. I always think... what if I would've kept training? What if I would've really been ready? What would my time have been then? Would I still have hurt my knee? Would I have kept on running after the race and gone on to do more 5ks that fall?

The sad thing is, we don't really get do overs in life, but we can use our regrets to shape what we do in the future. And this summer I'm not going to stop. I'm going to keep running and keep working out and keep training and reach my goals. You'll never regret doing it but you'll always regret not doing it.

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I was compensated for this post as a member of Clever Girls Collective. All the opinions expressed here are my own.